Benefit blaggers are driving round in BMWs and Keir Starmer's not got the balls to stop it

Many would think that driving a luxury car is the ultimate status symbol. If you're getting from A to B in a BMW it has always been shorthand for working hard and not being afraid to enjoy the finer things in life. Except, that is, in 2025 when it can mean something else entirely...

I'm not talking about the balaclava-clad bandits who simply swipe cars that they can't have. No - these are thieves even more brazen than that, as they're pocketing taxpayer cash in broad daylight from the Government and laughing all the way to the petrol forecourt.

The Motability scheme is a long-running system originally designed to help disabled people lease a new car using a proportion of their disability payments. It is right that those who genuinely need it are able to get to the places they need to be safely. Sadly, however, this scheme has now morphed into something quite different.

The scheme uses £2.8bn of taxpayer money every year and a Motability car comes with a huge host of freebies too - from free road tax to the installation of a charge point for electric cars. And the most bizarrely luxurious twist is that claimants can also apply for a new model every three years. This is something that many families could only ever wish for. Perhaps the biggest boon for benefits blaggers is that you don't even have to be the claimant yourself to benefit from the scheme.

So what's the fix?

Keir Starmer has no will to change this shocking set-up. But even if he did, he would need to clamp down at source, as scrapping the scheme wouldn't impact a jot on the ginormous UK benefits bill. The issue is the way that disability benefits have ballooned - with the Motability customer base rising by about 200,000 in two years - including those with mental health conditions.

Anxiety and depression are terrible afflictions - I know. But in the main, it shouldn't stop you from working and it certainly shouldn't mean mobility payments that can be used for a new car. This part of a disability payment should be solely limited to those with the most debilitating conditions.

Rules regarding so-called 'named drivers' need to be ironclad and evidenced - when is the car being used to benefit the claimant, where are they going and why? And cars on offer should be limited to basic and safe motors. I'm not talking Robin Reliant-esque rust buckets daubed in paint reading 'Motability', but like the Adam Smith Institute suggested, switching to sensible second-hand motors, which would save taxpayers £3.5bn a year.

Yes, we need to look after our most vulnerable but this scheme has become part of the pull for those swinging the lead on the taxpayer's buck. Let's park it now before it drives us all up the wall.